1. The highway that crosses Catalonia, from Castellón to Perpignan, or from France to Spain, is a national issue that cannot be ignored. If it weren't for the chaos of the commuter trains and our rail connections, what's happening on the AP-7 would merit constant parliamentary debate. 30 minutes a week, and some resignation. Even if it was for dignity or professional shame. But in the country of "not a piece of paper on the floor," revolutions pass us by because protesting seems to make us lazy. And who spends a day, a caravan takes. This Easter Monday, the day of Operation Return, it's a given that the lines will be miles long. Between Sils and Cardedeu, patience and radio. Between Altafulla and Gelida, start and stop, and that'll be enough if you can get into third gear at some point. And it's even better that, today, trucks, trailers, and other fat beasts will be prohibited from driving. It's logical that if 600,000 cars want to return to the same city in a single day, traffic jams are inevitable. There aren't enough lanes to accommodate everyone. But this column isn't about exceptional situations on Easter Sunday, but about everyday life.
2. For professional reasons that are irrelevant here but have a lot to do with novels and readers, in the last month I've driven more than 1,500 kilometers on the AP-7. One day to Valls and another to Banyoles or to Tarragona, Girona, Lérida, or the literary picnic in Torroella. We have a magnificent country and booksellers we don't deserve, but we're left with a terrifying highway. Since the removal of tolls, soon to be four years old, we have a highly dangerous AP-7. Many more people travel, trucks don't want to drive single file on the right, and there are drivers, whether in luxury cars or in rickety vehicles, who think they're on the Montmeló circuit. The great good thing is that the vast majority of drivers are cautious, heed the rules they learned years ago, and drive with four eyes and five senses. Otherwise, there would be more incidents and, automatically, more traffic jams, more hold-ups, and more citizen despair.
3. It's not necessary to conduct a mobility study to see that trucks on the AP-7 are free to drive wherever they want. There are many more—up to 28,000 a day pass through Santa Perpètua, now that it's free—and driving on the right and not overtaking on certain sections is a dream come true. If there are four lanes, as is the case on the shoulders of Girona, they drive in the second. Therefore, to be able to move forward, they use the third lane from the left. They put on their indicators, cut you off, and you'll be killed if you swerve to brake. If there are only three lanes, they sometimes use them all to pass. The wall effect in front of you is impressive. It's no wonder the number of serious and fatal accidents has skyrocketed. The RACC estimates that a truck is involved in 60% of accidents with fatalities on the AP-7. They also point out that fewer and fewer professional drivers are driving these trailers, and that the aging of transport vehicles is a constant. All of this creates chaos.
4. There are also the fitipaldis. There have always been people who learned the rules the other way around. They believe that, to move forward, anything goes. In fact, if it's on the right, they like it better. And they get excited with their zigzags, and they'll stick it in your ass to exit, at any moment, from any side. Not even Marc Márquez risks that much. What's happening now? With the AP-7 much tighter, it's harder for them to find a space to gain momentum and avoid all the good-faith drivers who are trying hard to get home without causing damage. Another day, more calmly, we'll talk about the lack of highway maintenance and the insulting lack of infrastructure investment in Catalonia. A great shame. It all stems from there.
